What a Christmas Gift! Stanley 77

[Branson]

I think the dowel maker is very cool, but if I was going to buy something to make dowels, it would probably be a small 6" to 9" lathe. Atlas, Logan and South Bend come to mind. You can score one for less than $500 and make lots of things including dowels.
JIS

Six to nine inches in length?  For that, I'd make a dowel plate and save about $490.

[johnsironsanctuary]

Me too Branson, I was comparing the cost of a Stanley Dowel maker like Papaws to the cost of a small used lathe, Six or nine inch swing. Beds are usually 24 or 32 inch. Horror Freight and Northern Tool have ittty bitty lathes new for about the same money.  I use my little 6" Logan lathe almost every day.

[Branson]

I found the Stanley 77 to be more fun, and less work than a lathe, albeit a lot more expensive.

[rusty]

And if you are really clever, you convince the kids that using the dowel maker is really really fun, and hopefully they fill up a barrel with premade dowel before they realize that the thing doesn't beep and play music like the nintendo....